The Assembly of the Republic approved in general bills related to animal welfare presented by PAN and Chega, sending them to committee, while rejecting other bills on the same subject.
The deputies rejected bills presented by Livre, JPP and Bloco de Esquerda.
PAN Bills
PAN, through Inês de Sousa Real, presented two bills, one to create a register of people convicted of animal abuse crimes, so that entities linked to the sector can know that this person cannot adopt companion animals, and another bill that criminalises zoophilia, which "is not clearly punished" in the legal system.
Chega Bills
Chega also proposes the creation of a national register of those convicted of animal abuse, and deputy Lina Pinheiro questioned who currently guarantees that someone who has abused an animal and been convicted will not do it again.
Projects from Livre
Jorge Pinto, from Livre, presented a bill creating a National Council for Animal Welfare and Protection, a proposal he had already presented and which was rejected, but which, he said, is important because it monitors policies and compliance with the law.
Projects from Bloco de Esquerda
Fabian Figueiredo, from Bloco de Esquerda, presented a bill to prohibit the sale of items such as electric collars and other coercive devices, which, he said, "are absolutely unnecessary" for training companion animals.
Projects from JPP
Another JPP project restricts the export of live animals by sea to third countries that do not meet animal welfare standards. Because, Filipe Sousa said, it makes no sense to have demanding animal welfare rules and allow animals to go to countries where they are not met.
Reactions to the draft bills
The JPP bill drew the most criticism, mainly from the PS, with Pedro do Carmo speaking about producers' income, and from the PSD, which, through Firmino Ferreira, said the Animal Ombudsman already performs many of the functions proposed for the Council by Livre.
In the debate, Paulo Núncio, from the CDS-PP, said that, regarding the proposals, "one cannot fall into ridicule" and that he would vote against all of them, and Paula Santos from the PCP was also critical, saying that "many decrees" on animal protection have already been approved. Rui Rocha said IL would support the proposals that made sense to it, and the socialist Pedro Delgado Alves said the Livre Council seemed like a good idea to him and that he had nothing against the PAN projects.